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The new year is right around the corner, and I’m going to be taking a long hard look at our finances. I tell my coupon classes that a budget is you telling where your money to go instead of it telling you (credit: internet and Dave Ramsey), but we fell off that train in the month of December. I know better and I did it anyway.
We’re going back to cash for everything except the bills we pay online. After those bills are paid, everything else is going to be withdrawn from the bank, and put into envelopes. Savings. Gasoline. Husband’s lunch. GROCERIES. Incidentals. There’s furniture we want to buy. There’s a possible vacation on the horizon. There’s home improvement projects we want to work on.
And we can’t do that if we’re living paycheck to paycheck.
Returning to full time employment after a period of unemployment is hard. There are a lot of gaps in my stockpile. Grocery prices are still rising, with no end in sight. I expect to see another jump for butter, sugar, and flour after the holidays. So, I’m going to put some money aside every month for those great deals you can’t seem to pass up.
What’s your budget? What are you going to do differently this year?
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Kristin
Our budget is $175 a month for a family of 5(myself, my husband, 3 boys 18,15,and 15 months). I have decided we are going back to using cash as well. It is way easier to keep track of. I have been trying to find a part time job to help with our expenses but have not had much luck after being a stay at home mom for the last 4 years its like no one wants to give me a chance but i wont give up. I am very thankful for my coupons and Publix which makes it a little easier to stretch my very small budget!
We are also going back to using cash and we are making more budget friendly cheap meals. I make a lot of my foods at home already but we need to master the art of break making so we do not have to rely on the grocery stores for our lunch breads.
Kristin…I think you have a great idea!! Harder to part with cash in hand, watching the envelope get thinner, than to swipe the plastic. I am a mom of five, groceries are killing me. I live in a small town in Minnesota with 2 grocery stores, one being Wal-mart. Neither of them offers double coupons. I have accumulated about 10 coupons over the last month. haha Most of my sunday coupons are for things I dont use. It seems they expire so fast also as I have no storage in my tiny house.
This year we are making sure EVERYTHING is paid ON TIME before we even think of an entertainment budget. I get financial aid from school (w00t scholarships!!) end of January and we’ll get taxes February-March. Between those two lumps of money we will be 100% debt free.
We’re starting a college fund for our older son and the currently incubating son, getting money into savings, and are going to start to try to save up for vacations.
And after spring semester is over in May … I’ll be able to coupon full time again!!!!
Thank you for encouraging me to get on the wagon and make up a budget. I love the cash idea too. Thanks. Laurie
Our budget is $800, and my goal is to rebuild our food storage. I want to have 3 months of food (non perishables, obviously). I’m also going to get back to CVSing and WGing.
Switching to cash is a brilliant idea. DH is not very budget conscious, and he has a difficult time not stopping for fast food or running into the convenience store when stopping for gas. If we switch to cash, it’s easier to stay on budget because when it’s gone, that’s it. Great idea!
I am going to try what you are doing. Cash for everything. I stopped using credit cards because it is so easy to overspend when you are not actually handing money over when you purchase something. The ridiculous amount of interest I have paid over the last 15 years, I could have built a new house! After quitting credit cards, I moved on to debit cards. The only thing better about them is no interest, but other than that it is so easy to overspend with those too. Cash is the best option, for now…until our government makes that more worthless than dog poo.
I honestly have never had a grocery budget. People ask me all the time and I can’t even answer that, YIKES. I should probably go the cash system but it scares me, lol
Cash only really does work. We have done it, fell off, and are starting it again the first of the year. It’s really easy after you start, but it’s also easy to stray away. I just keep thinking “where did the rest of that $20 go?”. Once you break a $20 (or any other bill) it seems it’s all spent. But if your strict enough, you start thinking “where did this EXTRA $20 come from?”.
I’ve used a “cash” system for years…I pay all my bills online, then allot what’s left to groceries, papers, etc. I use my debit card but track what money goes where. For 2012, I want to build my stockpile back up and begin working on an emergency fund. I want to allot so much to “stockpile” rather than “Groceries” to prevent missing out on good deals due to a money issue. My goal is $200 for groceries and papers for 2 of us and $50 for stockpiling.
Its a great idea every1 i know always puts a goal in front of them but never follow … i totally agree that the coming year will be 1 for budget, budget, budget…..
cash only, 9 people total monthly food budget at $300.00. I have easily saved 50% and I have a big stockpile right now. I shop at Food Town, Food Fair and CVS.
Our budget for 3 of us is $120. Our goal for this year is to pay off all debts but our 1st mortgage. My husband wants it to help with deductions on taxes. We are using the cash way of spending except for the bills that we pay on-line. After we get rid of our 2 credit cards, business loan and 2nd mortgage, we will begin to build up a savings for the things we want to do to our home, new to us cars, emergencies and retirement. We have a plan and know we can do it if we just stick with the plan.
We are also on a tight budget like many people these days. We plan on cutting back when it comes to eating out. Soon to have two people in college and I’M trying to get a jump start.
This is a great idea. I need to find a way to budget/save money because my husband and I have split up and he was the main bread-winner in our home, so without his contribution to the expenses I have to watch every penny to cover the bills and feed my teens. I also have a small stock pile that I started in March, that I can continue to add to as I have the extra funds.
My grocery budget goal for 2012 is $100/month for my family of 4. When I write it is seems a little unrealistic, but I am determined, and we need to keep expenses down.
I am an awe of seeing everybody’s comments. I thought that we were doing good with $60 to $70 per week for food/household. But after reading some of these comments I know that we can do better that that. For my goals this year, I want to start using coupons, saving and have a tiny bit of entertainment budget.